Nowadays, with development in a wave field synthesis (WFS) technology corresponding to a technology for reproducing an audio based on a loudspeaker array environment, a multi-channel audio reproducing system having a greater number of channels such as a 22.2 channel signal and a 10.2 channel signal when compared to a conventional 5.1 channel signal, and 7.1 channel signal is being developed.
However, since an amount of information may increase as a number of channels increases, a conventional apparatus for encoding and decoding the 5.1 channel signal or the 7.1 channel signal may not encode or decode the 22.2 channel signal and the 10.2 channel signal and thus, a signal generated using the 22.2 channel signal and the 10.2 channel signal may have a limited compatibility with a conventional system for reproducing a multi-channel audio.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a method of encoding or decoding the 22.2 channel signal and the 10.2 channel signal using a conventional apparatus for encoding and decoding the 5.1 channel signal or the 7.1 channel signal so that a signal of the 22.2 channel signal and the 10.2 channel signal may be compatible.